Chinese police have killed 18 people in a raid on an alleged militant training camp in the western autonomous region of Xinjiang, officials say. One policeman was killed and another injured in the raid, which took place on Friday, a police spokesman said. China is waging a campaign against what it calls separatist activities of Xinjiang's Uighur Muslim minority. The announcement came as a Chinese official denounced Nobel Peace Prize nominee Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer. Uighur activist Ba Yan of the Xinjiang Public Security Department said that the training camp was located on the Pamirs plateau, close to the Afghan and Pakistani borders. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown Austin early Monday after dozens birds were found dead.Experts were testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have killed off the animals, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said.There were no reports of any humans harmed, but a 10-block stretch of the main north-south route through downtown, several side streets and all buildings in the area were blocked off and expected to remain off-limits until about noon, Chovanetz said....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/08/ap/national/mainD8MH5PVO0.shtml

Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf has arrived in the capital, Mogadishu, amid tight security. He flew in on his first visit since Islamists fled advancing Ethiopian forces and interim government soldiers. Gunmen fired at Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu overnight, after two died in anti-Ethiopian protests on Saturday. It is unclear if the violence is linked to the Islamists, who threatened an Iraq-style insurgency. Some Islamist leaders are in Yemen calling for talks. Somalia's president and the prime minister, Mohammed Ali Ghedi, are at the former presidential palace in southern Mogadishu, Villa Somalia, for discussions with clan elders about the faltering disarmament process. The capital awash with guns, and since being elected Somalia's interim president in 2004, Mr Yusuf has always said it was too dangerous for him to set up a government in Mogadishu. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6240269.stm

Suspected separatist rebels have carried out more attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in a fourth day of violence in India's Assam state. Gunmen attacked a roadside colony of brick factory workers and shot dead seven of them at 0230 local time. Police say 69 people have died in the state's worst violence in a decade. Authorities blame the attacks on the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) rebels, who are fighting for an independent homeland. Thousands of Hindi-speaking migrants are fleeing the attacks. Talks between the federal government and Ulfa collapsed in September after which the rebels unleashed a series of bomb and grenade attacks across the state. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6240227.stm

The Hezbollah-led Lebanese opposition vowed Monday to step up its protest campaign aimed at bringing down the government with daily marches.Supporters of the opposition have camped out in central Beirut since Dec. 1, turning the area into a city of tents where thousands of people gather daily, shouting anti-government slogans less than 100 meters (yards) from the government building where Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has been living.Druse leader Talal Arslan announced the new measures at a press conference broadcast live by local TV networks after opposition leaders met at the residence of Hezbollah-allied Christian politician Gen. Michel Aoun, in the northern Beirut suburb of Rabieh.Arslan said the escalation would follow a separate protest planned for Tuesday by Lebanese labor unions against tax increases. He urged opposition supporters to join the labor ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-08-beirut-protests_x.htm?csp=34

The mysterious smell of gas throughout much of Manhattan forced the evacuation of buildings and a temporary suspension of a commuter train service on Monday as authorities scrambled to determine the source. There were no immediate reports of injuries and Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was not dangerous."It may just be an unpleasant smell, but at this point we do not know any more than that. The one thing we are confident about is, it is not dangerous," Bloomberg told a news conference.The wide extent of the odor provoked jitters in a city that is constantly reminded of the September 11 attacks. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman said "there is no indication at this time of a terrorism connection."...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070108/ts_nm/newyork_gas_dc